Puzzle
by Rainboom93
Summary: A SAW inspired fanfic. A wave of disappearances spreads through Ponyville, and a madpony is behind it all, testing their will to live.
1. Let the Games Begin

1. Let the Games Begin

Red Gala woke up slowly with a slight groan. Her head was pounding and her muscles all ached. In the back of her throat she could taste dried up blood, and her entire body ached of dehydration. The room she was in was foreign to her – it smelt terrible, it was dark and damp and a rhythmic drip echoed through the room from an unseen tap. Red fumbled around in the darkness, and forced herself to her hooves. She tried to take a step forward… _clunk_.  
>"What the…" she mumbled to herself, still dazed and confused. 'Am I dreaming?' she thought. 'No, it feels too real…' She felt around and, around her back left, a heavy but short steel chain secured her in place.<p>

"Hello?" she called, unable to suppress the fear in her voice. "Applejack? Granny Smith?... A-Applebloom?" No response. The only sounds that could be heard were the steady drip and the slight echo from her call. She rattled at her chains, but they were solid and heavy – so heavy, in fact, she highly doubted whether Big Macintosh could break it.

"Where… WHERE THE FUCK AM I?" She screamed into the empty room, abandoning all hope of being in a dream or being the victim of a prank and allowing the fear to seize hold of her. "WHO DID THIS!" Suddenly, a spotlight flickered to life directly above her. Red Gala cringed slightly and allowed her eyes to adjust to the new downpour of light. Looking up at the ceiling, she noticed that, suspended from a string, was a tape recorder. Painfully curious and in a state of thoughtless fear, she tore the tape recorder from the string and pressed play.

"_**Hello, Red Gala. I'd like to play a game." **_The deep, distorted voice played out. Red Gala did not recognize the voice – in fact, it sounded nothing like anypony she had ever met. Not that she'd met many ponyfolk outside of the Apple family._** "For some time now, I've watched you. Oh yes," **_the voice paused to indulge in a quick snicker, _**"I've been watching you. I've watched as you quietly put apples from the orchard aside for yourself. I've watched as you allowed them to ferment. I've watched as you drunk gallon after gallon of apple cider, allowing your… inebriation to overwhelm you. I've watched as you turned to your little sister in a violent, drunken rage time and time again. That, Red, is not the way to live a life. It could barely be called a life. So, today, I give you… a chance. A chance at salvation. Suspended above your head is a string. If you tug that string hard enough, the tool to your rescue will fall into your hooves…" **__Click. _The tape ended.

"Wh… WHAT THE FUCK?" Gala screeched, horrified by what she'd heard. "THIS IS A GAME? ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME?" She screamed and yelled until her throat was hoarse. Finally giving up on venting anger at an unseen enemy that was probably not present, she decided to go with her only option – following the rules and tugging the string. She grabbed the string firmly between her teeth and yanked hard, but nothing happened. She snorted in annoyance, grabbed the string harder and tugged with all of her body weight. She let go and let out a slight yelp as the roof panel gave way, crumbling around the spotlight. From the roof fell a thick, blue plastic sack. Red carefully unravelled the sack to find inside one small black wooden case and a slightly larger brown one. She opted to open the black case first, and gasped when her eyes drank in the contents – a tape, with the words 'PLAY ME NOW' carelessly scribbled onto it in black. She quickly fumbled around, removed the old tape and shoved the new one into the recorder.

"_**If you're hearing this, then the game is about to begin." **_Right on cue, every light in the room burst to life. It was small, grey and dull, and every corner was covered in mould and grime. There was no notable source of dripping – it must have been coming from outside of the room. The room appeared to resemble a bathroom, minus the taps and toilets. "_**In the bag this tape was in, you will find a…" **_Gala was too overwhelmed with shock to even gasp. She opened the brown case just as the voice said _**"a hacksaw. You will need to saw off your leg to escape this room in time. How much does your family mean to you? How much does your **_**life **_**mean to you? Will you be able to saw through your own flesh to survive? Let the games begin." **_Red held the hacksaw in a trembling hoof. Tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"If… if this is a j-joke… it's not f-funny… I… I can't…" she couldn't finish through the tears. She rested her head on the floor and wept. _Creak_. A heavy steel door that had blended into the walls was now slowly creaking open. And on the other side of the door was a very familiar face… "You…" Red Gala breathed in disbelief. The pony held a strange contraption up to their mouth, which distorted their voice to match the tapes…  
>"<em><strong>It's not a joke. It's a game. Don't you like games?" <strong>_The psychopath laughed. Suddenly, a loud, attention-grabbing creak shook the tiny room violently. Gala panicked; the room had begun to shrink very slowly – the walls were closing in. She was going to be crushed!  
>"What… WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?"<br>_**"This is your game, Red Gala. Cut your leg off, make it over here, and you will live another day. Fail to do so, and you will die, and be trapped here… for-EVER!"**_ Gala thrashed about wildly as the walls closed in, hoping to somehow snap the chain, or the floor… but it was useless. She was held in place firmly. She quickly darted her eyes between the chain and the hacksaw.

"_**Oh, do not bother. This game has been well designed. That blade cannot cut that chain. Hurry now, you're wasting time."**_  
>"Why are you… WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?"<br>_**"I've already explained why. Quickly, you're losing your game." **_Red Gala screamed out in a mix of fury, fear and utter anxiety. Clenching the saw roughly by its blade, she rested the sharp blade against the tender flesh of her thigh. Tears stung her eyes, and blurred her vision, but she stayed fixed on the pony in the doorway. The room had shrunk to three quarters of its original size now, and there was simply no way out…  
>"Fine…" Red sobbed. "FINE!" she gently pressed the blade into her thigh, and made one deep slice. A bone chilling shriek erupted from within her as blood seeped out, staining the blade as well as her pink coat. She wailed and screamed and cried in agony as she willed her way through a second, tendon-tearing slash. She slammed a hoof against the ground and screamed. "Fuck… FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!"<br>"_**Hurry up."**_

Red gritted her teeth and held her breath as she began to saw feverishly through her own leg. Her own tears now began to swirl and mix with the blood. The only sounds throughout the room were the horrible, sick, squelching sounds as the hacksaw dove deeper and deeper into Gala's leg. Suddenly, she whipped the blade out of her profusely bleeding leg and let it fall to the ground. Half her leg had been sliced through and the floor was stained a deep red. Her composure and determination broke and she screamed as loud as she could manage at the pony across the room.  
>"FUCK YOU!" She hollered. The room had now shrunk to half its original size, and a state of panic set in.<br>_**"Half way there."**_  
>"I KNOW! I… I know…" Gala had given up screaming and just fell into a sob. The pain was fading, whether due to adrenaline or shock or some other reason, Red couldn't tell, but it didn't matter. She was going to survive this horror. She would see her family once again. She picked up the blade with a strangely steady hoof and readied herself once more…<p>

Slice. The pain was there but it was diluted heavily. Slice. Red Gala winced slightly but kept her fortitude. Slice. That one hit a major artery at last and blood sprayed out wildly. She felt squeamish, but had to keep going. The walls were still closing in. Slice. Slice. Slice, slice, slice, slice, slice. With one final, dramatic slash, the leg fell from the body and landed in the pool of blood and gore on the ground with a squelch.

"Th-there…" Red cried, the full realization of what she had done coming to light – she had just amputated herself. "I did it. I-I won. Let… let me go… please…" Despite her pleas, the insane pony simply stood there, shaking their head.  
>"<em><strong>Your game isn't over. You need to escape the room."<strong>_ Red didn't even bother to cry out in anger or respond. She had been broken. She just wanted it all to end. The room was a quarter of its original size now. In fact, it was only about two pony widths wide. She steadily planted all three hooves on the floor and tried to force herself to a standing position. Her legs ached and shook violently, and she collapsed into her own blood. Most of her pink coat was now blood-spattered. Resolving not to die today, she began to drag her way towards the door.

The walls creaked loudly again. They were closing in now… Red was nearing the door… she clawed and clawed her way across the floor. A black blur was creeping in from the edge of her vision… consciousness was fading… she had to move faster! But her back right seemed to have given up… she simply couldn't move it any more… she dragged herself by her front hooves… the pony in the door took two steps back to allow Red to crawl through and win the game. Her front hooves exited the shrinking room, and she dragged the front half of her body out. She planted her hooves onto the floor once again for one final haul, and… she was stuck. The walls had closed too far, and had seized hold of her rump.  
>"No…" she cried in desperation. The walls squeezed her rump painfully. "NO!" Panic returned in a heightened form and she wildly scraped her hooves along the floor, but to no avail. She reached out a single hoof at the pony who had done this to her.<p>

"I cut it off, I DID WHAT YOU SAID!"  
>"<em><strong>You took too long. I'm sorry. That's the rules."<strong>_  
>"Fuck you, FUCK YOU!" A sickening series of cracks and squishes resounded through the room as Red Gala's back half was crushed. "I'm s-sorry… A-Apple…bloom…" she gasped. Her face drained and she shuddered violently for a few seconds before her eyes shut and her face fell to the ground in the same instant the room behind her sealed completely shut. Her hoof dropped half a second later.<br>"_**So close."**_The killer calmly walked out of the room, leaving Red Gala to rot.

"_**Game over."**_


	2. Search

2. Search

"Hey, Applebloom!" Scootaloo called across the orchards at her friend. The yellow haired, red maned, apple bucker was with her sister, Applejack, and her brother, Big Macintosh.  
>"Hey Scootaloo!" Applebloom called back, in a less cheery voice than the Pegasus was used to. Sparing a glance at her siblings to make sure they knew she was leaving them, but remaining on the farm, she trotted over to Scootaloo.<br>"You okay, Applebloom?" the orange pony asked.  
>"Red Gala's gone missin'." Applejack mumbled.<br>"Oh…" Scootaloo said, her mood deflating.  
>"Yeah… Applejack's takin' it really hard. First Rarity went missin', and now part of our own family. I'm startin' ter think somethin' bad is happenin'." Scootaloo resisted the urge to point out that the letter 'g' can be used at the end of a word to her farming friend.<br>"Speaking of Rarity going missing, how's Sweetie Belle doing?"  
>"Not so good."<br>Scootaloo and Applebloom stared at a particularly juicy apple in a tree above them, neither of them knowing what to say. Applebloom was extremely conflicted – Gala going missing meant no more drunken outbursts and no more having to hide her bruises with their Cutie Mark Crusaders cape that Sweetie Belle had made them.

The two exchanged awkward small talk for a while before agreeing to go and visit their unicorn friend. Strapping a helmet to her head and mounting her scooter, Scootaloo watched as Applebloom jumped into the attached cart – the Cutie Mark Crusaders standard transport. She pulled her wings back and readied herself to speed away from the farm, when…  
>"Where do y'all think yer of too?" Applejack called, galloping over to them with Big Macintosh.<br>"We was gonna go and visit Sweetie Belle." Applebloom mumbled.  
>Well, take Big Macintosh with y'all… t'ain't safe round here no more." Applejack stared off into the distance, noticing the Sweet Apple Acres barn – the last place she had seen Red Gala before her disappearance.<br>"_You're _coming?" Scootaloo asked the large red earth pony sceptically. How was Big Macintosh planning to keep up with her and Applebloom?  
>"Ee-yup." Big Macintosh stated, gingerly stepping into the cart next to Applebloom, who was now pressed up against the sides. Scootaloo sighed heavily, understanding that there was no way for her to weasel her way out of dealing with Applebloom's overprotective siblings, and flapped her wings as hard as she could possibly manage. Using Rainbow Dash as her inspiration and with Applebloom's cheers (although they were muffled against the side of the cart) willing her on, Scootaloo managed to lug the weight behind her across the farm at significant speeds. Her cape billowed behind her while Applebloom's was squashed against her.<p>

Scootaloo halted abruptly as they neared Carousel Boutique. The entire building, as well as the surrounding area, was swarming with yellow tape and royal guard ponies, as it had been since Rarity went missing. Scootaloo facehooved – she had completely forgotten that Sweetie Belle was staying at Fluttershy's cottage and had gone straight here through force of habit. Sighing heavily, she glanced back at Applebloom, who, despite having her face being squashed into the cart, looked deeply depressed. Crime in Ponyville was very, very rare. Villains were fairly common for some reason, but crime itself was rare. The only thing that had ever been stolen was a few pieces of food by the cocky griffon Gilda. Oh, and there was that _one time _when Nightmare Moon stole the sun, but she gave it back in the end.  
>"Hey, you okay?" Scootaloo asked in a rare moment of compassion. Big Macintosh simply sat in the cart with a blank expression, as if he didn't understand what was going on if he weren't tugging a heavy cart on the farm.<br>"Yeah, I'm alright, I'm just wonderin' what Rainbow Dash is doin'." Following Applebloom's line of sight, Scootaloo spotted her rainbow maned idol. She left Applebloom and Big Macintosh behind to trot over to the Pegasus.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" She called more cheerfully than the situation called for as she approached. Dash spared her a glance before looking back to Rarity's house.  
>"Sorry, kid, not now. I'm busy. HEY! IS ANYPONY GOING TO COME OR NOT?" Rainbow screamed, causing everypony around her to jump.<br>"Wh-what's wrong?" Scootaloo blurted out before she could stop herself.  
>"Me and Pinkie Pie were going to pull a prank on Twilight." She responded without looking at Scootaloo, holding a large shaker of pepper, a toothpick, a baby cactus plant and a horn up absent-mindedly. Scootaloo decided against asking what possible prank could be pulled off with that assortment of items. "So we agreed to meet at Sugar Cube Corner. But Pinkie hasn't showed up. In fact, nopony I've asked has seen her <em>all day<em>. I'm probably being paranoid but it's not like Pinkie to just disappear, and since the same thing happened to Rarity last week, I'm just worried. But none of these IDIOT ROYAL GUARDS ARE GOING TO LOOK FOR HER!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Scootaloo had to agree – looking for Rarity was important but it was stupid just to ignore another pony going missing.

"Woah… that makes three missing ponies…" Scootaloo mumbled.  
>"Well, Gilda isn't a pony, she's a griffon." Rainbow Dash corrected, meeting a surprised reaction from Scootaloo.<br>"What? Gilda's missing too?"  
>"Yeah… Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Gilda… that's three…" Dash seemed confused as to how Scootaloo was passing school without basic maths.<br>"Oh, that's four then, Red Gala went missing last night as well." Rainbow was stunned by the news.  
>"Wow… alright… Scootaloo, you better get home, it's not safe out here. HEY! YOU! THE ONE WITH THE STUPID LOOK ON HIS FACE!... No, not you. The one that looks like an Ursa Minor sat on his face. Yeah, you! Are you gonna help me or not?" As Rainbow Dash was shouting this, Scootaloo returned to the scooter, and headed towards Fluttershy's cottage. As they travelled, she relayed the news to Applebloom.<p>

"Woah… we should do somethin'!" Applebloom stated firmly. "But… but what?"  
>"I dunno… let's ask Sweetie Belle. Her sister went missing, she's probably got a plan all sorted out for us to find her!"<p>

Sweetie Belle was simply sitting at a window, staring out into the Everfree Forest.  
>"Sweetie, please come and eat." Fluttershy cooed. Sweetie Belle looked back to see Fluttershy smiling warmly at her, with two plates of fresh grass on a table waiting for her. Sweetie Belle sighed. She had been overflowing with depression since Rarity went missing. Although she wasn't supposed to, she had managed a glance inside Carousel Boutique in the aftermath. Aside from a knocked over stand and a few scattered jewels, the place looked untouched. But there was a problem there. Rarity was a perfectionist. There's no way she'd have just left the place like that. Something had happened. But whatever it was, there hadn't been much of a struggle. Sweetie swallowed her depression and forced a smile at Fluttershy.<br>"No thank you, Fluttershy. I'm not hungry right now. Maybe later." She said as politely as she could manage. Fluttershy opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Sparing a worried glance at Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy walked over to the door and opened it. There stood Scootaloo and Applebloom, and behind them, Big Macintosh.  
>"Hi, girls. Sweetie Belle is right inside." Fluttershy said simply, motioning for the filly's to come inside. Scootaloo and Applebloom filled their fellow Crusader in on the recent events. She seemed shocked, though her reaction was dulled by the depression over losing her sister.<p>

"Gilda, Red Gala _and _Pinkie Pie have gone missing too?" Sweetie repeated, stunned. In her mind, her worst fears were confirmed – something had happened to Rarity, and it had taken three more victims as well. Although the Crusaders hadn't dealt with Gilda personally, they knew about her. She was Rainbow Dash's old friend, a griffon. She wasn't exactly weak. What could have possibly happened? And who or what would want to do anything to somepony like Pinkie Pie or Rarity? Belle voiced her concerns.  
>"What coulda happened to them?" Applebloom echoed after Sweetie Belle had spoken.<br>"I dunno, but Rainbow Dash has been trying to get the royal guards to help, and they're not doing much to find out, they're too busy –" Scootaloo said, but paused. She didn't want to mention the state Carousel Boutique was in. "…doing something else."  
>"Well," Applebloom said, "I guess it's up to us to solve this case then!"<br>"Yeah, and maybe we could even get our cutie marks!" Scootaloo echoed. The three filly's shared a glance, before saying in unison,  
>"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DETECTIVE SQUAD! YAY!" Though, Scootaloo was the only one who shouted – Applebloom spoke it, and Sweetie Belle's 'cheer' was more akin to a mumble than anything else.<br>"How should we begin looking for clues?" Scootaloo asked the other two enthusiastically.  
>"Twilight." Sweetie Belle stated.<br>"Yeah!" Scootaloo agreed instantly. "Twilight's a bookworm, she'll probably have a book that can tell us how to start! Cutie Mark Crusaders, move out!" The three trotted towards the door confidently, only to be stopped when Fluttershy stuck a hoof in their way.

"And where do you think _you're _going?" She asked them in a demanding tone. Scootaloo spoke up for the Crusaders, taking care not to look directly at Fluttershy. When she wanted to, Fluttershy could be scary.  
>"We're just going to Twilight's, Fluttershy!" Scootaloo responded in an almost pleading voice. "We'll have Big Macintosh with us, we'll be safe and everything, honest!" Fluttershy pursed her lips for a moment in thought, before sighing.<br>"Alright, but you make sure you're all back home before the sun goes down." She compromised. Scootaloo looked up at her and nodded vigorously.  
>"We will, Fluttershy, we promise." Scootaloo smiled and dashed past Fluttershy. A single, white bunny hopped up onto Fluttershy's shoulder once the Crusaders had left her cottage.<br>"Angel, you follow them and make sure nothing bad happens, okay?" The bunny nodded once and bounded after the Crusaders.

Sweetie Belle hopped onto Big Macintosh's back, closely followed by Applebloom, who wished she had thought of that back on the farm. The three were safely secured in the cart as Scootaloo got on her scooter and flapped her wings. In the last second before they tore through the streets of Ponyville, Angel hopped unnoticed into the cart and hid herself in Big Macintosh's tail. The five rapidly approached the house of Twilight Sparkle just as the sky burst and rain began to pelt the city…

Yeah, not such an exciting chapter. Don't worry, chapter 3 gets right into the main story. :D


End file.
